Apparatus for heat-treating metal objects



Feb. Z 1950 A. J. DAViS 29496933 APPARATUS FOR HEAT TREATING METAL OBJECTS Filed Oct. 22, l948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 R N INVENTOR.

ALTO d. DAVIS ATTOIQ/i/ZXX 1 Feb. 7,, H95@ A. J. DAVIS APPARATUS FOR HEAT TREATING METAL OBJECTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 22, 1948 v INVENTOR. ALTO J. DAVE 5 Patented Feb. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS: FOR HEAT-TREATING OBJECTS Alto J; Davis, Montgomery, Ala. Application. October 22, 1948, Serial No. 56,013-

(Cli 2664) 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to.- apparatus; for heat-- treating metal objects and more particularly to apparatus for heat-treating internalcombustion engine pistons for expanding; the: same to compensate. for wear.

It is among the'objectsof the'in-vention to provide improved heat-treating: apparatus by means of which internal-combustion engine pistons canbe. quickly seizedinproper position in a movable holdencarried by such holder to: aheating burner and thento a. quenching; tankandreleased: from the holder whereby such pistons are. rapidly] and easily handled in the heat-treatinggprocess, which apparatus is quickly andeasily adjustable: to accommodate it to pistons of different; dimensions, is highly accuratein operation and easy 'to-use,,is of simple, durable and; economical. construction; and constitutes a unitary and; self-contained; device of neat andattractiveappearance.

Other objects. and advantages will become: 3.13:- parent from a consideration. of. the: following; description and the. appendediclaimssin. conjunction with. the accompanying: drawings, wherein:

Figure l is. a front elevation of heat-treating:

apparatus illustrative ot the. invention Figurez is a topplan view of. the-apparatus, a? portion being broken away and shown: in cross section to better; illustrate the: construction thereof;

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of: a fragmentary portion of the apparatus, theoutercasing being. broken. away to show: the internal. mechanism;

Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section" on. an enlarged scale of a'-..fragm'entary' portion. of the operating mechanism illustrating: constructional.

details of the mechanism;

Figure 51 is a transversecross-section-on an enlarged scale and. is takensubstantially on: the line 55 of Figure 4';

Figure 6 is a. transverse crossi section on an enlarged scale taken substantially on the linev 6' 3.of Figure 4;

Figure 7 is a transverse cross-section on"- an enlarged scale taken. substantially on the line 15i' of. Figure 4; and,

Figure Sis a vertical cross-section of a frag mentary portion of the apparatus taken substantially on the line8-8 of Figure 3.

With continued reference to the drawings, the operating mechanism of the apparatus is enclosed in a, generally rectangular casing In the bottom end of which is adapted to rest upon. a floor and the upper end of. which ispositioned at a convenient height for a tableupon whichithe heat-treatingoperation is carried out A. hood 2 III. is disposed above the upper end of the casing. [0. and includes. aportion spaced above and'parti'ally overlying the area of. the upper end'of the casing. This. hood has a back wall t2. continuous with the badl: wall of the casing and'side walls. l3 which. are continuous with the corresponding side walls of. the casing but of. less width than the latter. A pair of hollow covers [4i are hinged to the casing lllat. the upper ends of. the casing side wallsv and. are movable between an open position, as illustrated in. Figure. 1, in which they are disposed laterally. oi; the. casing.

side: walls. and a. closed position. in which. they cover. thev space between. the upper end. of. the casing I0 and the upper portion of. the. hood H.

A. fiat rectangular table It is-supported by the casing Ill and. disposed at the upper. end. of the latter. This table has a width lessv than. the width of the casing and. the space. between. one sidewall of the casingand the adjacent edge of the. table is occupied. by a rectangular quenchingtank l6..

Opposite the quenching tank the table is. pro vided. on its upper surface with a raised, prefer-- ably circular, pillow Hand at a location between the-pillow I1 and the adjacent edge of tank [6 is provided with an aperture receiving a. heating burner [8.

Near; the center of its inner edge the table is provided with an elongatedfdepending tubular boss llihavinginitsside adjacent the: tank IS a longitudinally extending slot 20 which slot extends through the adjacent edge portion of the table. as indicated at 21..

A pair of: spaced-apart, substantially-parallel extensions 22 project outwardly from the opposite side: of sleeve l9. and are connected at their. upper ends to the undersurface of the table l5, and. these projections-are extended downwardly substantially parallel to the longitudinal center line of the boss and spaced therefrom to provide apair of spaced-apart, apertured lugs 23 laterally offset from. the center line-0f the boss.

A tubular sleeve 24 longer. than theboss I9 is slidably mounted in the boss and has in one side a. longitudinally extending slot 25 which. registers with the slot 23- in. the boss. A toothedrack ZG-issecuredtc the side of the sleeve Ztopposite the slot 25 near-the lower end. of the sleeve and this rack extends downwardly below the sleeve andisprovided with rack teeth onits outer'face.

Alcy lindrical post 21 is rotatably' mounted in the sleeve 24 and projects upwardly above the upper end of. the sleeve. While freely'rotatable lnlthesleeve this post is heldagainst longitudinal of the sleeve 24 to positively limit movement of I the post downwardly relative to the sleeve.

pivotally connected to the post near the lower end of the arm by a pivot pin 32 extending transversely through the arm and the post. a

A piston carrier, generally indicated at 33, ha

at one end a handle 34 and at its opposite end J an annular piston-holder 35 operative to seize internal combustion engine pistons and carry them through the heat-treating operation. This carrier is connected at a location between the handle 34 and holder 35 to the upper end of arm 3|.

The pillow H, the burner l8 and the tank I6 are substantially centered on an are 36 centered on the axis of rotation of the post 21 and having a radius substantially equal to the distance from the axis of rotation of post 21 to the center of the annular piston holder 35 so that, as the piston carrier is rotatably moved about the axis of the post, a piston can be carried from the pillow I! to the burner l8 and from the burner to the quenching tank l6.

A pinion 31 is journaled in the apertured lugs 23 by a suitable shaft 38 or other convenient means such as journal bosses provided on the pinion and has teeth which mesh with the teeth of the rack 26. An operating shaft 38 is drivingly connected at one end to the pinion 31 and extends through an aperture provided in the front wall of the casing ID. A hand lever 39 is connected to the end of operating shaft 38 at the outer side of the front wall of the casing to manually rotate the pinion 31 and a pointer 40 is connected to the shaft 38 and is movable over a dial 4| on the outer surface of the casing front wall to indicate the rotational position of hand lever 39.

When pinion 38 is rotated by manual lever 39 sleeve 24 is moved upwardly or downwardly, raising or lowering the piston carrier 33 to adjust the pistons between the piston-holder 35 of the carrier and the-top surface of the table pillow IT to accommodate the apparatus to pistons of different height or other diiferent characteristics.

A pair of spaced-apart cable sheaves 42 and 43 are rotatably supported from the table l5 below the latter and a counter-weight 44 is connected at its upper end to one end of a strand or cable 45 which is led over the sheaves 42 and 43 and connected at its opposite end to the tubular sleeve 24 near the lower end of the latter, as indicated at 46. The counter-weight 44 counterbalances the weight of the sleeve 24, the post 21, the arm 3| and the piston carrier 33 so that this assembly can be moved upwardly and downwardly by the hand lever 39 with a minimum of manual effort.

A toothed locking bar 41 is pivotally connected at one end between the lugs 23 and has along one end edge rack teeth which mesh with the teeth of pinion 31. nected at one end to the free end of the locking An operating rod 48 is con- I bar 41 and extends through an arcuate slot 49 in the front wall of the casing Ill and is provided on its end at the outer side of the casing front wall with a hand knob 50 by means of which the rod can be moved to raise the locking bar 41 to free the pinion 31 for rotation or lowered to releasably lock the pinion against rotational movement.

Before the pinion can be rotated by the hand lever 39 the knob 50 must be lifted to unlock the pinion and when the pinion has been brought to the desired position, as explained above, the knob 50 is released to permit the locking bar to descend into locking engagement with the pinion teeth.

The heating burner l8, as illustrated, is a gastype burner and has its tip 5| disposed in an apertured depending boss 52 of the table directly to the rear of the boss l9. This burner is provided with an air inlet 53 and a gas valve 54 disposed between the air inlet and the adjacent end of a gas conduit 55 which extends through one side wall of the casing l0 and is provided on its outer end with a coupling 56. A link 51 extends through a horizontally elongated slot 58 in the front wall of the casing l0 and is provided on its end outside of the casing front wall with a hand knob 59. The inner end of this link or lever 51 is supported by a strut 60 extending downwardly from the table [5 and is connected through a link 6| with the gas valve 54 so that the gas can be turned oif and on by operation of the hand knob 59. The burner is provided with a pilot 62 of conventional construction.

With the above arrangement and with the piston carrier properly adjusted for height by the hand lever 39, the piston carrier is moved to bring the annular piston holder 35 directly over the pillow I1 and a piston is placed in the holder and permitted to rest upon the table to position the piston properly to the holder. The piston is then clamped in the holder and carried to the burner l8 by rotationel movement of the holder about the axis of the post 21. The knob 59 is then operated to open the gas valve of the burner and I when the proper amount of heat has been applied to the piston the gas valve is closed and the piston carrier swung until the piston is brought over the quenching tank l5 and the arm 3| is brought into alignment with the slots 20 and 25 in the boss I9 and sleeve 24, respectively. The piston carrier is then tilted to immerse the piston in the cooling liquid contained in the tank I5. After the piston has been quenched the carrier is tilted back to its substantially horizontal position returning the arm 3| to the groove 29 whereupon the piston carrier is again moved rotationally to bring the treated piston over the table l5 where it is removed from the piston holder. The heat-treating process can thus be very rapidly carried out by a unit-directional, rotational movement of the piston carrier and extremely accurate treating of the piston can be accomplished.

If desired, a roller carrying suitable instructions may be mounted in the hood H, as indicated at 52 and rotated by hand wheel 63 to make the desired information available through a suitable sight opening provided in the hood and a vent 64 for the burner may be provided in the upper rearward portion of the hood. A drain valve 65 is connected to the bottom of the tank l6 and extends through one side wall of the casing I0 and a suitable re-inforcin framework 65 is provided in the casin for supporting the table l5 and the tank-l6. The casing and the tank 5 may be formed of suitable material such as sheetiron or sheet-aluminum but the table is preferably formed as an aluminum casting and given such machining operations as may be necessary.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. Heat-treating apparatus for internal combustion engine pistons comprisin a table, means supporting said. table, a raised piston-supporting pillow on said table, a burner supported by said table at a location spaced from said pillow, a quenching tank supported adjacent said table at a location spaced from said pillow and said burner, an elongated, tubular boss depending from said table and having a longitudinal slot in the side thereof adjacent said tank and a pair of apertured lugs at the opposite side thereof, a sleeve slidably mounted in said boss, a toothed rack on said sleeve disposed between said apertured lugs, said sleeve having in the side thereof opposite said rack a slot registering with the slot in said boss, a post rotatably mounted in said sleeve and having a groove in one side opening to the upper end thereof, an arm in said groove pivotally connected at its lower end to said post and extending above said post at its upper end, a piston carrier having at one end a piston holder and its opposite end a handle, said carrier being secured between said holder and said handle to the upper end of said arm for rotational movements about the axis of said post and tiltin movements about the axis of said pivotal connection between said arm and said post when said arm is brought into registry with the slots in said sleeve and said boss, said pillow, said burner and said tank being substantially centered on an are centered on the axis of said post so that carrier can move a piston from said pillow to said burner and from said burner to said tank by a uni-directional movement, a pinion journaled on said lugs and meshing with said rack, a handle secured to said pinion to rotate the latter and thereby adjust the distance between said piston holder and the surface of said pillow, a counter-weight carried by said table and connected to said sleeve, and a manually operated lock bar supported by said table and engageable with said pinion to releasably lock the latter against rotation.

2. Heat-treating apparatus for internal combustion engine pistons comprising a piston cartank.

rier, means supporting said piston carrier for rotational movements and for tilting movements about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of said rotational movements, a pistonsupporting pillow, a heating burner and quenching tank arranged in spaced-apart relationshipfabout said axis of rotational movement of said carrier, and manuallywperated means connected'to said carrier supporting means for adjustablyzraising and lowering said carrier relative to saidpillow, said carrier supporting means comprising a tu bular boss, a sleeve slidable in said boss, a post rotatable in said sleeve and having a 5longitudinally-extending groove, and an arm received in said groove rigidly connected at its upper end to said carrier and pivotally connected at its lower end to said post, said boss and saidsleeve having registering slots therein for receiving said arm when said carrier is tilted. i

3. Apparatus for heat treating. metal-v objects comprising a table, means supporting said table at a height convenient to an operator ng the apparatus, a post extending through said table, means carried by said table supporting post for rotation about its longitudinal center line and for longitudinal movement relative} to said table, an object carrier pivotally connected intermediate its length to said post above said table for tilting movements about an axis substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of said post, an object holder at one end of said carrier movable in an arcuate path about said post, an object supporting pillow on said table within the arcuate path of movement of said holder for supporting an article while being positioned in said holder, a quenching tank spaced-from said pillow along said arcuate path of travel and positioned below said table, a heating burner between said pillow and said quenching tank and directed to heat the bottom end of an object supported in said holder, and means carried by said. table restraining said carrier against tiltingmovement except when said holder is over said quenching ALTO J. DAVIS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 

